Tax aims to drive ‘bangers’ off Czech roads
New legislation, drafted by the Czech Ministry of Environment, may introduce a new environmental tax on cars that are more than ten years old. The proposal, which is aiming to reduce CO2 emissions, is set to be presented to the government on Wednesday.
The new legislation proposes to introduce a one-time charge of 10,000 crowns for vehicles with no Euro standard compliance, and also raise the existing charges: for Euro 1 vehicles to 10,000 crowns and to Euro 2 vehicles to 5,000 crowns. Owners of Euro 3 vehicles will be required to pay 3,000 crowns.
The first ‘Euro’ standard for exhaust emissions was introduced in 1992, requiring the fitting of catalytic converters to petrol cars. The subsequent Euro standards were introduced in the years to follow.
The environmental tax in the Czech Republic currently applies to vehicles manufactured by the year 2000. The highest charge of 10,000 crowns applies to cars that are not fitted with catalytic convertor and fail to comply with any of the EU standards, such as the domestic Škoda 105, Škoda 120 and Škoda Favorit or the foreign Trabant, Žiguli or Ford Sierra models.
According to the most recent figures released by the Czech Car Import Association, the Czech car fleet continues to age. The average age of cars on the Czech roads is 14.49 years, which is the highest figure for the last twenty years.
Over the same period of time, the number of registered cars has risen by more than 1.95 million to total nearly 4.9 million, and over three million cars have been sold in the country. The new legislation drafted by the Environment Ministry also aims to toughen the conditions for operation of scrap yards, whose numbers are much larger than in other EU countries.
The ministry is also planning to introduce new certification of all scrap yards in the Czech Republic and require regional authorities to check them regularly, the ministry’s spokeswoman, Petra Roubíčková, told the daily Hospodářské noviny.
She also said the ministry was considering introducing the duty to mark each part of a car wreck in an attempt to have a better control over the sale of spare parts.
In addition to that, the proposal also tightens conditions for the disposal electrical appliances and old lights, batteries, solar panels and tyres.
